Chapter 24

Octavio, now in his octopus form, walks out into the giant arena serving as the location of the 'final boss'. He throws two of his tentacles in the air, Kai and Callie walking behind him. In a booming voice he says "WHAT IS UP OCTO CANYON!"

The Octarians in the seats around the arena all cheer loudly at Octavio's entrance. Callie then steps up and, striking a pose, says "ME AND THE DJ WILL BE READY TO DUBSTOMP THAT AGENT 7'S FACE INTO NEXT WEEK!"

Once again, as the Octarians cheer, the trio makes their way to the large mech in the middle. Octavio gets into his DJ booth and Callie super jumps to the stage on top. Kai then presses a device and the mech lowers into ink until only Callie's stage is visible.

The Octarians all quiet down as the lights dim and Callie turns around. Kai, walking away from the arena, goes to sit in the seats. "Now we wait."

-Tentakeel Outpost-

The now trio of people are staring at the letter within Ika's hands. Sheldon looks over to Marie and says "As tempting as it is to bring that military-grade brush into battle, I think we should follow the note."

Marie nods and says "You should do as it says Ika. You can't use an Octarian weapon while that Chancellor is watching."

Ika frowns and reads the note again, seemingly ignoring Marie and Sheldon.

Dear Agent 7 and 2,

Due to the fight needing to seem authentic, we must require you to perform specific actions. First, you mustn't use the Octobrush Remix we supplied you. It would be too suspicious to see an Agent using an Octarian weapon.

Secondly, you must treat Octavio with hate and disrespect like before. Same goes for Callie, except you must be surprised at Callie being 'mind controlled'.

If you follow these actions, things should run smoothly for us all. Also, the coordinates for the final kettle is down below.

Sincerely,

General Kai

Ika finally puts the letter down and says "Fine, I guess I'll leave the brush here." Ika gets up and ignores the Octobrush he has gotten used to. He instead grabs his custom made brush and heads out the door. Marie and Sheldon watch him, then run to Marie's laptop to watch the fight.

As Ika touches down on the final kettle, he notices that the hub is floating over a lake of Octarian ink. Ika grimaces and says "I don't want to know why that's even there." He instead turns into a squid and falls into the kettle. The platform the kettle is on begins to spin and descends into the depths, right into the arena where Octavio is waiting.

As the platform stops spinning, Ika steps out of the kettle. He shakes his head slightly to removes the dizziness, then steps on the launch pad. He rockets into the arena and, acting as he should, gasps at what he sees. "I-Is that…?"

Callie turns around dramatically, her tentacles flipping over her shoulder. Then, in a loud and projected voice, she says "I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE! NOW YOU LEAVE ME WITH NO CHOICE."

Marie, trying to sound distressed, says "C-Callie?! Why would you do this?!" Callie seems to ignore Marie and says "IT'S TIME FOR THE BEATDOWN! HEY DJ!" Callie then points to the sky and the stage beneath her begins to shake.

The giant mech begins to rise out of the ink, and Ika is honestly surprised. The mech was a much larger version of the Octobot King from their first big adventure with Orange and Blue.

The Great Zapfish, stuck in the power core, tries to struggle out. Octavio simply presses a button and the zapfish gets sucked in. Then, with a large shake of power, the Octobot King makes a loud electronic sound.

Octavio laughs maniacally and says "HAHAHAHA! I REMIXED CALLIE'S BRAIN!" Callie, eager to get the fight going, then says "TIME FOR OUR FIRST SONG OF THE NIGHT: BOMB RUSH BLUSH!" Octavio slams his wasabi stalks on his turntables and says "LET'S BRING THE HEAT!"

After this little performance, the real show begins. As Callie begins to sing her famous solo, Octavio remixes it in real time. The remixing seemed to trigger the attack mechanisms in the mech.

Ika splashes some ink around him to be ready, then hears a charge-up noise. He looks up and notices that one of the mech's fists was rocketing towards him. Ika grips his brush tight and then, once the fist is close enough, begins covering it in a flurry of ink. The fist begins to slow down at first, and then rockets backwards.

Octavio's eyes widen in mock surprise as the fist hits his shield. Callie stumbles around and her singing falters. Then, whispering into her communicator, she says to Ika. "Watch it Seveno! I ain't about to fall off this thing!" Ika just whispers "Sorry…"

Octavio manages to get control of his mech and says out loud "SLIMY LITTLE HIPSTER! IF YOU THINK THAT'LL BEAT ME AGAIN, THEN YOU ARE MISTAKEN!" Octavio then does a quick turn on his turntable and the left fist begins to spin.

Sheldon's eyes widen and he yells "Ika! You can't deflect the spinning fists! Dodge to the side!" Ika nods and begins running. The fist is fired at Ika at extreme speed, but it ultimately misses him.

As the fist retracts, Callie then begins to sing louder.

Blushing faces covered in pink!

Rushing bombs, exploding ink!

Ika's eyes widen as he recognizes the line from her song. Callie then slams her hands onto the mech and the speakers up front shoot out four giant Splat Bombs. Ika yelps and runs as the splat bombs land next to him. He is just barely able to avoid the attack.

Octavio then laughs and seems to smile. He slides one off his dials up and the music increases in volume. Callie once more brings her hands down onto the mech and the speakers shake wildly.

At first, Ika is confused about what was happening. Then, as rings of purple begin to appear around him, Ika realizes what was going on. Ika instantly falls into his ink trail and swims to the side as fast as he can.

The killer wails, disguised as speakers, then fire. As the loud noise bursts from the special weapon, Ika only just clears the blast zone. Well, almost clears it.

Ika screams out and holds his leg as he sees it covered in the deadly purple ink. He digs his fingers into the ground and grits his beak tightly. Marie covers her mouth in shock and Sheldon stares in disbelief.

Callie, despite not wanting to, says "LOOKS LIKE WE GOT 'IM!" Octavio just laughs in reply. He then begins charging up a fist for launch, but it was much slower than before.

Ika grits his beak and reaches for his brush. He stares at the fist wide eyed as he tries to get grip on his brush. The fist launches, and Ika manages to grab his brush.

Ika reaches behind him and pulls out a splat bomb. He chucks it at the fist, and the bomb explodes on impact. The fist slows down greatly, but it wasn't enough to stop it. Ika then brings his brush back, then swings it forward as hard as he can.

The flurry of ink just barely manages to stop the fist and deflect it. While Octavio and Callie recover from the attack, Ika begins to splash ink over his injured leg. He sighs in relief as his leg becomes coated in the healing red ink. He then shakes the ink off and stands up again.

Octavio glares at Ika, but he is secretly enjoying the challenge the inkling was giving him. "Impressive Ika. Let's hope you can hold out enough to beat me." Outwardly, he growls and says "GAH! I'M GONNA DUBSTOMP YOUR FACE IN FOR THAT!"

Octavio then flicks his turntables and the calamari bombs in front of him shoot forwards. The calamari bombs expand greatly and fall onto the stage with a splash of purple ink. Ika raises an eyebrow at the bombs, then tries to destroy them with ink.

The bomb breaks apart as the ink hits it, but the others begin to shake violently. Ika's eyes widen and he quickly tries to get rid of the others. He manages to get rid of two more before the calamari bursts apart and becomes a torrent of purple ink.

Ika back pedals as he sees the purple tornado in front of him. He manages to stop himself and breathes a sigh of relief. Then, he notices a strange sound. He looks over to his left, then yells as he sees two fists flying at him. He instantly begins to swing his brush, coating the fists with red ink and sending them back.

Both fists slam into the mech's shield and Callie begins to lose her balance once again. "W-Woah!" She manages to right herself, then grits her beak. She then yells out "ALRIGHT! TIME FOR THE NEXT VERSE!"

Callie sings out again and her tentacles glow. Then, a large machine appears on her back. It was a bomb launcher filled with multi bombs. Ika yelps as Callie begins to rain the bombs onto his location and he was hard pressed to stay safe.

The bomb rush eventually ends and the fight continues. Ika had some splotches of ink on his armor, but he was otherwise fine. Marie, noticing how difficult the fight was becoming, says to Ika. "Hold out for a few minutes Ika! I'm coming!" Ika nods, his breath coming in slight pants.

Octavio flicks his turntable again and both fists begin to spin. Ika runs away from his spot, his brush in front of him, as the two fists fire. They both converge on his location, but a sudden turn by Ika is able to save him from a direct hit.

Octavio then mumbles something out and the calamari bombs shoot out again. As the bombs all surround Ika, Callie then slams her hands on the mech again. The mech shakes, then shoots out four giant suction bombs. Ika backs up from the bombs and breaks a calamari bomb. He runs out of the blast zone just as the suction bombs explode.

Octavio's glare lowers slightly and mumbles "I swear, this squid has the luck of the devil fish." He then glares intently at Ika and says "I THINK IT'S TIME TO TURN UP THE HEAT!" Octavio goes to turn up the volume of his music, when another sound suddenly appears.

Ika turns around and nearly falls over in surprise as he sees Sheldon piloting a flying truck, Marie standing on top. She was in her stage gear and was holding a Hero Charger. She then yells down to Ika "Don't worry! I'm here now!" Ika, eyes now half-lidded in slight annoyance, mumbles "You don't say…"

Marie then becomes serious as she takes aim at Callie. A laser dot appears on Callie face, right where the shades are, and Marie takes a deep breath. Then, as she releases the trigger, a beam of ink rockets forwards and slams into the shades.

Callie screams and recoils as the beam hits the shades. Her head suddenly begins to pound, a giant headache hitting her brain. "Ooooohhhh…."

Octavio, true to the act, slams his wasabi sticks down in anger and yells "NOOO! THE HYPNO-SHADES!" Callie stumbles around, trying to regain her balance. She begins to sing her song, but it was a sloppy performance. She couldn't think straight.

Marie then says into her communicator. "It's up to you Ika! I need to sing so that Callie can't accidentally launch any powered up attacks." Ika nods and begins to run, waiting for the next attack.

Octavio growls in frustration and says "TIME FOR DOUBLE TIME! TWICE THE BEATDOWNS PER MINUTE!" Octavio then presses a button and the entire mech bursts to the side. As the mech does this, another spinning fist prepares to fire.

Ika is taken off guard by the sudden movement the mech just showed. Despite this though, he is still able to out maneuver the fist coming at him. But, just as he is about to see what Octavio would do next, he realizes that another fist was coming at him!

While Ika was preoccupied with the spinning fist, Octavio sent a normal fist to try and catch him off guard. He hoped the slower speed would cause Ika to drop his guard until he was too late. The fact that the fist was now flying back at him told him that the plan didn't work.

Callie, already off balance, slams against the stage. She moves to the back area and tries to stand. Her eyes widen suddenly and she puts hand over her mouth. She shakes some, then gasps in exhaustion. "Aaaaoooohhhhh…." She groans loudly as one hand holds her stomach and the other her head.

Marie, deciding it might be time to try and get Callie on their side again, pulls out a radio. She connects it to the truck's speakers and says "Try to remember Callie!" Marie then strikes her starting pose as the radio begins to play a remixed version of Calamari Inkantation. "That heavenly melody!"

Callie, recognizing the cue through the fog of her mind, replies shakily with "The… one and only…" She struggles to get in her pose, but the song seemed to be healing her. Her mind begins to clear up and her stomach settles. She smiles widely and super jumps to the truck. "I'M BACK!"

Callie lands on the truck, and is somehow in her normal stage outfit. Marie is slightly startled, but she doesn't question it. Instead, the two cousins begin to sing and dance the Calamari Inkantation, ready for the final phase of their plan.

Octavio can feel himself twitching and trying to dance. He wanted to so badly, but he had to at least activate the autopilot. He flicks a switch on his mech and he begins to rise up. "I HATE TO DO THIS, BUT IT'S TIME TO D-D-D-DROP THE SEABASS!" The mech flies up to a level much higher than what Ika could normally reach, but there were inkrails circling where Octavio was.

Ika is about to super jump up there, when he suddenly hears a drone. He looks up and sees one of Sheldon's drones flying down to him, a weapon case in hand. Ika jumps up and the case opens, a giant fish-shaped rocket launcher in hand.

Ika's eyes go wide as he realizes what he is holding. "Rainmaker…" Sheldon laughs and says "That's right, Ika! That is a modded version of the Rainmaker I made myself. Use it to take that Octo-punk out of the sky!" Ika smiles, then nods. He turns into a squid and launches himself up to the inkrails above.

Octavio, unable to control his mech due to him dancing now, could only launch the fists. Some were spinning, but some were not. Ika circles around the mech, jumping over every fist that spun and shooting back the ones that weren't. He was loving every moment of this. It seemed like such a good way to end a fight.

As Ika blasts another fist back to Octavio, the shield around it suddenly turns red. It flashes some, then breaks apart like glass. Octavio continues to dance, but his eyes widen. "THE SHIELD! NOW THE FINAL VERSE COMES IN!"

Ika raises an eyebrow, but then he realizes what was happening. Behind Octavio, a giant hatch opens up. Within it was a massive, octopus shaped bomb. Ika recognized it as the same bomb Whinter and Clementine used to break Octavio's shield the first time.

The bomb powers up, then shoots off at Ika. Ika charges a shot and fires the rocket into the bomb. The bomb turns red and rockets backwards towards Octavio. Octavio, true to his fashion, manages to uses his dance to deflect the bomb back to Ika.

Ika, expecting this, manages to get another shot charged. He watches as the bomb flies in a curve to try and avoid his shots, then fires. The shot hits the bomb head on and flies back to Ika. Octavio smacks it back and the bomb flies back to Ika.

Ika's eyes widen as he sees the bomb begin to fly at him from behind. He turns around, rainmaker in hand, then lines up with the bomb. The bomb gets within a few feet off Ika, then is sent flying back by the shot.

Octavio, overwhelmed by the bomb's speed, misses his deflect. The bomb explodes inside the booth and the whole mech begins to smoke. It begins to fall to the ground, electricity and smoke flowing out of the whole machine. It slams into the ground with a massive boom, Octavio falling on top of it.

Callie cheers as the mech is destroyed and Marie grins. She looks over to Ika, then her eyes widen. Ika was falling, and he was right over the edge of the arena. A pool of Octarian ink was down there!

Ika, taken off guard by the kickback of the Rainmaker and the awkward standing position he was in, managed to lose his balance on the rail. He is sent flying backwards as Octavio's mech begins to smoke and malfunction. He was falling right into a pool of ink.

Surprisingly, he didn't feel much. He was exhausted from the fight and he managed to save Inkopolis. Sure, there was the whole Chancellor thing, but he didn't seem to mind. He was going to find his death soon anyways.

Sheldon instantly sees what is happening and slams his foot on the gas pedal. The truck flies down at rocket speeds and is quickly catching up to Ika. Marie and Callie reach out, trying to grab for Ika. The two parties grow closer and closer until…

Callie smiles in relief as she grabs her brother's hand. Ika looks up and blinks. "I thought… I was a goner." Marie smiles and says "We can't be separated forever. We are the Cuttlefish family." Ika just smiles in tired relief.

The two cousins pull the exhausted agent onto the truck. Ika chuckles and says "I didn't feel this tired while fighting." Marie smiles and says "It must've been the adrenaline." She then activates her communicator and says "Come on Sheldon, let's go grab Octavio and head home."

Sheldon nods and turns the truck towards where the unconscious king was laying.

-Tentakeel Outpost-

Octavio glares in annoyance from his snowglobe. "I absolutely despise this thing." Marie just smirks and says "That's why we use it." Octavio just grumbles.

The group decided that they would wait a day or two before beginning an attack on the Chancellor's forces. They wanted any spies to truly believe that the agents still hated Octavio and the Octarians.

Suddenly, a loud splashing is heard. Callie, clad in her normal casual wear, goes over to the group grinning. She then says "The Zapfish is back, and so am I, officially. Sadly, none of my jobs are offering anything anymore. I think I may have to dedicate to turf wars."

Marie gasps in mock surprise, then smirks. "Oh? Seems like I'll have a partner then." Callie gasps and then yells "Wait, what?! You lost your jobs too?!"

Marie nods and says "I simply couldn't continue living like nothing happened to you. I quit my jobs and started trying to find a way to find you." Marie then smiles and says "But I'm ok with that. Turf wars give a lot of income and we have much more free time now!"

Callie was concerned about what Marie said, but then realizes she was right. This was honestly an improvement for them both. It would be much better now that they could be a permanent duo again.

Ika then smiles and says "Alright, I think we need to sleep some. That fight was exhausting, and I am ready to crash at any second." Ika was swaying on his feet, almost half asleep.

Callie giggles and says "Alright Ika, we can go sleep. Come on Marie!" Callie quickly pushes her brother inside the cabin, the sleepy agent protesting only slightly.

Marie giggles at her cousins' antics, then gets up. She smirks at Octavio and says "I left some ramen on the table. You can have it if you can get it." She then walks over to the cabin and enters.

Octavio watches as the group enters the warm cabin. Octavio looks over to the ramen, and his stomach growls. He lightly taps the glass, trying to find a way through. He eventually gives up and glares at the food. "I hate this thing." The night was filled with Octavio's fruitless tapping.

-Author Notes-

This is probably the end of the Splatoon 2 arc. Things get much more complicated from here on out as the group begins to take on a Civil War, a war between Octavio and Octavius. Hope you liked how things played out in the Splatoon 2 arc! Give me some feedback if you'd liked the arc, or simply to give an opinion on the storyline as a whole. Anythings helps!